Cannes 2012 Preview: What Could Be This Year’s ‘The Artist’?

At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, few attendees would ever have believed that “The Artist,” a likeable black-and-white silent film about the early days of Hollywood, would eventually go on to win the American film industry’s biggest honor: the Academy Award for Best Picture. Only two movies have ever won the top prize at Cannes and the Oscars, Billy Wilder’s ”Lost Weekend,” and Delbert Mann¹s “Marty,” both more than 50 years before ”The Artist” was a cause celebre. While plenty of talent from the famous French fest will walk the red carpet at both events, most of the movies that play in Cannes are often too arty to be considered Best Picture material. But strange things do happen, especially with Harvey Weinstein involved.

On the eve of this year’s Festival de Cannes — which kicks off Wednesday, May 16 with Wes Anderson’s new film “Moonrise Kingdom”– here are five contenders that could go the distance.

“Killing Them Softly” ­

Cannes regular Brad Pitt (last seen in “Tree of Life”) stars in Australian director Andrew Dominik’s crime drama, based on the 1974 bestseller “Cogan’s Trade,” about a mob enforcer called in to clean up a high-stakes poker game gone wrong. A strong supporting male cast — including Sam Shepard, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, and Ray Liotta — should make for a compellingly acted film. While genre material isn’t the most obvious choice for an Academy Award picture, let’s not forget “The Departed” or “L.A. Confidential.” Plus, Oscar-pushers The Weinstein Company is planning to distribute the movie this fall, right in the middle of award season.

“Lawless” ­

In this Prohibition-era American saga — directed by Australian John Hillcoat (“The Road”) and written by fellow Aussie musician Nick Cave, based on Matt Bondurant’s 2008 novel “The Wettest County in the World” – three bootlegging brothers (played by Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke) try to break into the criminal big leagues. Another Weinstein release, “Lawless” doesn’t look on paper like “The King’s Speech,” but it could follow in the footsteps of “No Country for Old Men,” a similarly violent neo-Western, which premiered in Cannes and eventually won big at the Oscars.

“Mud”

A Mississippi coming-of-age story about two teenage boys harboring a fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey), the film follows the kids’ attempts to reunite the criminal with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). With comparisons to “Stand By Me,” “Mud” might not seem like major Oscar bait, but the film’s director Jeff Nichols surprised audiences and critics last year with his startling tale of schizophrenia “Take Shelter.”

“The Paperboy” ­

Based on Pete Dexter’s bestselling crime novel and directed by Lee Daniels (multiple Oscar nominee “Precious”), the film follows an investigative journalist (Matthew McConaughey, again) who is hired by a woman (Nicole Kidman, in a performance that’s already generating buzz) to exonerate a convicted murderer (John Cusack). Again, saucy, Southern noir dramas aren’t the most obvious Oscar fodder, but with Cannes’ imprimatur, ”The Paperboy” is sure to get a close look.

“Rust and Bone” ­

This year’s most significant French contender, “Rust and Bone” stars Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard as a Orca trainer who falls in love with a bare-knuckled boxer. Huh? In the hands of most directors, the summary seems cliché, but French auteur Jacques Audiard, who has been called France’s answer to Martin Scorsese, has a knack for blending profound character studies with expertly constructed tense narratives (see any of his previous films, such as “The Prophet,” “The Beat That My Heart Skips,” or ”Read My Lips”).